This invention relates generally as indicated to a strip barrier brush assembly, and more particularly to a strip brush moving surface guard for protecting the gap at the lateral edges of the moving surface of a conveyor such as an escalator or walkway.
Strip brushes have been used to protect the gap between the fixed side walls and the moving surface for escalators or walkways. The bristle tips usually project over the edge of the moving surface at a downwardly extending angle and nudge people or things away from the gap between the moving and fixed surfaces. Examples may be seen in published UK patent applications 2,343,668A, 2,332,411A, and 2,069,438A, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,147. Both single and double strip brush guards are sold under the trademark SEALEZE(copyright) by the Sealeze unit of Jason Incorporated of Richmond, Va., USA. SEALEZE(copyright) is a registered trademark of Jason Incorporated.
Most brush guard assemblies utilize a two piece holder construction utilizing an elongated mounting holder or extrusion fastened to the side wall into which the strip brush is fitted. If the mounting holes and hardware for the holder or extrusion are exposed, there exists the danger of tampering or vandalism. There is also the possibility of a riders fingers being caught or abraded by the hole or fastener. If such holes are in the base of a dove-tail slot as shown in UK application 2,332,411A, and the strip brush is threaded in from the end, the mounting holes and fasteners make the threading job much more difficult. It would accordingly be desirable if the strip brush could simply be dropped in a recess in the holder secured to the fixed surface, and be secured by fasteners not projecting horizontally while at the same time concealing the fasteners securing the holder to the fixed surface.
A strip brush moving surface guard includes an elongated holder secured to the fixed surface. The holder has a drop-in recess or slot adapted to receive a strip brush base. The primary fasteners for the holder extend horizontally through the recess and are concealed by the strip brush base when in position in the recess. Both the recess and the base have mating V-shape pilot surfaces to facilitate the seating of the base in the recess. The base includes a top flange overlying the holder and smaller secondary fasteners extend through the flange into the top of the holder almost vertically and transversely of the primary fasteners for the holder. The base includes a channel slot into which the strip brush is threaded, but no fasteners extend through the slot of the base. In this manner the primary fasteners are concealed and the secondary fasteners do not extend horizontally. Moreover, the guard is much easier to install since a strip brush does not have to be threaded through a channel or slot with fastener holes.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.